Illuminated sign



July 2s, 1942. L, P'ETZ ETAL 2,291,409

ILLUMINATED `SIGN Filed July 6, 1939 INVENTOR ALTQMN Perz YJoseFH L, psr;

Patented July 28, 1942 OFFICE ILLUMINATED SIGN John L. Petz, Rochester, and Joseph L. Petz, Irondequoit, N. Y.

Application July 6, 1939, Serial No. 283.008

(Cl. l- 133) 12 Cla-ms.

This invention relates to an improved illuminated sign primarily adapted for use upon the outside of a building, such as a dwelling, for the purpose of clearly exhibiting, by day or by night, information such as the house number or the name of the occupant, and for other purposes where an illuminated sign may be required.

An object is to provide lan improved sign, such as a number or a name, which shall be of simple and inexpensive construction, weather-proof, and durable.

An object is to provide a new and improved sign which is not limited in capacity but is sectional in its nature whereby names or numbers of any length may be readily assembled out of standard units and does not require the use of an element of structure of fixed dimensions such as a base plate or face plate which must be manufactured in standard sizes each capable of displaying only a predetermined number of characters.

Another object is to provide a sign which may be principally made of simple sheet metal stampings by means of simple dies whereby the sign may be very cheaply manufactured for sale at a reasonable price.

An object of the invention is to provide a sign that may be easily installed by persons who have very little mechanical ability and are familiar with the use of only very simple tools such as a screw driver.

Another object is to provide an eflicient sign which is adapted to be illuminated at a low cost.

An object is to provide an improved sign for numbering or naming houses and for similar purposes which shall be of such construction as to enable numbers or names to be easily and quickly changed at small cost as when additional letters or numbers may be required as a consequence of the re-numbering or re-naming of occupied premises.

An object is to provide a sign which is composed of a plurality of separate character displaying sections which are capable of being assembled together to form la single unit to display a name or number, the sections being so constructed so as to enable any one of theml to be removed and replaced or other sections added as may be necessary.

Another object is to provide a sign which has high visibility both by day and by night.

Another object is to provide a sectional sign which is weather-proof and light-tight.

An object is to provide a sign which expensive to install.

is not An object is to provide a sign which is cornposed of a relatively few simple parts regardless of the capacity of the sign whereby only `a few `dies are required to make all the parts for a sign of any capacity insofar as the number of characters displayed is concerned.

Another object is to provide a sign which is composed of a plurality of simple and independent sections with a simple means of joining the sections together to make them light-tight and weather-proof.

An object is to provide a sign of a sectional nature with means in each section for illuminating the character or characters displayed by such section and a simple means for connecting together the several illuminating means which does not require the skill of an electrician or knowledge of electricity.

An object is to provide a simple electrical connector link for use in electrically connecting a series of separate lamps located in the several sections of a sectional sign.

An object is to provide a simple connecting device for the lamps of a sign which also function as terminals for the current supplying wires and have the fea-ture of not requiring the use of any tool other than a knife or other means to scrape the insulation from the ends of the wires as a preparation for attachment to the sign.

An object is to provide a simple and inekpensive means for securing together the character displaying section of a sectional sign.

An object is to provide a fastening means for the sections of a sign which does not require the use of tools.

An object is to provide a fastening means which is strong and permanent yet is easily released to permit changing sections or adding new sections to the sign.

The basic feature of the present invention is the construction of an illuminated sign from a plurality of more or less independent character displaying units. It is contemplated that each section comprise la base unit of such size and shape as to accommodate a` unit displaying a single character or a group of characters such as the commonly used abbreviations like No., Apt., Dr., M. D., etc. which are very frequently used with numbers or names.

Illuminated signs comprising names ,are very commonly used by physicians `and morticians because the nature of their services requires that their residences be easily found at night when emergencies occur. However, the illuminated signs available to professional men heretofore have always had to be made to order and usually must be hand made and necessarily expensive. Householders frequently desire to designate their homes by means of illuminated house numbers or names but, owing to the high cost of such signs as hitherto constructed, the practice of using illuminated numbers or names has not been very wide-spread. It is to make it possible to obtain an illuminated sign at a low cost that is the principal object of the present invention and this object is realized by constructing the sign in sections which are simple and inexpensive to manufacture and may be pmt together by the house-holder with little mechanical ability.

Other objects and distinctive features of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which discloses, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode which has been contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view.

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 2 2 in Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the line 3 3 in Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a `perspective view of two of the conductor strips.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional View on the line 5 5 in Fig. 2.

The sign is assembled by combining three basic units which are a base unit I (Figs. 2 and 3), a character displaying -unit II (Figs. 1 to 3), and an end unit I3. Each sign consists of two end units I3 and one or more character displaying units Il with each of which is associated a base unit I0 on which the character displaying unit II is mounted. Each character displaying unit I I is cut out to form a character such as a letter or number and is provided with a letter plate I2 formed of a translucent plastic material, such as Celluloid, cemented to the rear, or right-hand, vertical face of the character displaying unit II. The plates I2 are formed with raised characters which project through the cut-outs in the character displaying unit so as to diffuse the light from the interior of the sign.

The base units comprise a one-piece sheet metal stam-ping which is formed withv a slightly raised portion Ia on which is riveted a bracket I4 (Figs. 2 and 3). On the bracket I4 is secured a socket I for an incandescent lamp I6. While the socket is here shown as of the :bayonet type for supporting an incandescent lamp of a type commonly used in automobiles and small yachts, a screw base socket may be provided instead. The socket I5 has two terminal lugs I5a 'which extend at right angles to the plane of the base I0. The :base I0 is formed along its left-hand edge atv Ib as to overlap the righthand edge of the next adjacent unit on the left, whether this happens to be an end unit I3 or a character displaying unit II. The character displaying units II are located between anges IUc formed along the upper and lower edges of the base units I6 and may be secured to such anges by means of two screws II which may be of the self-tapping type if desired.

The base units I0 may be secured to the surface I8 on which the sign is mounted by means of screws I9 passing through holes in the base units I0 located on each side of the bracket I4. In Fig. 1, there is arbitrarily shown a typical sign in three character sections comprised of an assemblage of bases, end units, and character the bases properly, the latter are formed with a raised portion such as a rib IM against which the edges of the left-hand portions Ib may be placed as a means of squaring each Abase unit with thenext one.

In order to provide a light-tight and weatherproof joint .for the character displaying units, they are joined together by means of junction strips 20 which it is preferred to make of resilient material like rubber. The junction strips are provided with longitudinal grooves on oppositesides of the strips so that they are substantially H -shaped in section as shown in Fig. 2. After the base units I have been secured to the surface I8, the junction strips 26) may be forced on the edges of the character displaying units II, with the edges of the units in the grooves in the strips, and the units pressed together. The end units I3 are similarly joined to the character displaying units at the ends by means of strips 20 so that la box-like light-tight and weather-proof enclosure is formed to house the incandescent lamps I6.

As best shown in Fig. 3, the character dis- .playing units or sections are substantially U- shaped in section and the junction strips are of the same length as the sheet metal blank from which the .character displaying unit II is formed. This Iassemblage now may `be placed over the bases and manipulated so that the anges Ic are outside of the character displaying units and so that the parts of the grooves at the ends of the junction strips 20 slip over the corners of the fianges IIBc as shown in Figs. l and 3. The screws I'I may now be inserted to rigidly secure the character displaying units to the base units.

While it is not absolutely necessary that additiona1 means be provided to secure the character units II and the end units I3 together, since the edges of the units II and I3 may t the grooves in the strips 2U quite tightly or even be cemented to the latter if desired, it is preferred to provide such means as a safeguard against the possibility that the end units of the sign might become dislodged by accidental collision of some object therewith or by a person striking it, as with the feet or shoulder, when the number unit must be mounted at a place such as a porch where it must be placed low for greatest visibility from the street, making it liable to `be bumped against or struck by persons. For this purpose, there are secured to the insides of the character displaying units and the end units narrow strips 2I which are located a little nearer to the face of the character displaying unit than to the base I0, as best shown in Fig. 3. Each character displaying unit II is provided with two such strips fwhich extend parallel with the -base and longitudinally of the sign as it is assembled in Fig. l. The strips 2I for the end units I3, one of which is shown in Fig. 3,

eXtend vertically between the ends of the strips 2| for the adjacent charac-ter displaying unit.

The strips 2| are somewhat longer than the width of the character displaying unit and the height of the end units |3 so as to make it possible to pass the ends of the strips 2| through links 22 (Figs. 2, 3 and 5) which have slots to receive the ends of the strips. In order to vfacilitate the attachment of the linksV 22, the portions 2|a of strips 2|, which are passed through the slots in the links and are to be bent back upon the main portion of the strips 2 may be initially bent at right angles to the body of the strips 2l. Conveniently the strips 2| may be formed to the proper shape with the ends thereof bent at right angles and secured tor the inside of the character displaying unit by welding or soldering so that the strips are in such position as to merely require that the links 22 be slipped over the bent ends 2 la of the strips, the proper number of character displaying units and end units I3 havingA been first assembled as described `above and held together by the junction strips 2E).

Each of the base units l may be provided with opening |36 (Fig. 2) which may register with a suitable hole in the wall surface for the purpose of conducting the current supplying wires into the interior of the sign for connection to the lamps I6. In order to facilitate the installation of the sign by unskilled labor, particularly by persons who are unacquainted with elementary electricity, convenient means is provided whereby the lamps may be connected in parallel and to the current supply wire without the use of tools and with no risk of short circuits. It is for this purpose that the terminal lugs |5a on the sockets l5 are disposed at right angles to the base units l. When the base units have been properly assembled on the wall surface, the corresponding lugs |311. are connected in parallel by means of novel connector strips 23 (Figs. 2, 3 and 4) Two adjacent connector strips joining the corresponding lugs of the three lamps for the three units, shown in Fig. l, are shown in perspective in Fig. 4. The connector strips may be formed from narrow ilat copper or bronze strip stock cut to the required length and formed in a die with three lugs 23a., 23h, 23C, these lugs being formed in the connector strip by making right-angled cuts along one edge of the strip and folding the tabs thus formed backwardly upon the body of the strip. These lugs are also bent slightly outwardly away from the plane of the main portion of the strip 23 so as to facilitate placing of the strips on the lugs |5a.

In Fig. 2, it will be seen that the strips 23 are pushed upon the lugs |50l in such fashion that the side of strip 23 facing the lug 23a, bears against the underside of one lug |50. whiley the same lug 23a presses the right-hand end of the next adjacent strip 23 on the left against the upper side of the lug |5a. In similar fashion the lug 23D of the next adjacent strip on the lef-t presses the left-hand end of strip 23 against the underside of the lug |5a. The extreme left-hand ends of the pair of the strips 23 associated with the extreme left-hand character displaying unit and the right-hand ends of the strips 23 associated with the extreme right-handV unit are merely pushed over the lugs |5a.

In order to attach the wires 24 supplying the current to the sign, it is only necessary that the ends of the two wires designated 24 (Fig. 2)- have the insulation removed for a distance of about a half-inch from the ends and then the bare portions may be slipped under the lugs 23C of the pair of strips 23 connecting the two adjacent sections of which one has its hole Ille registering with the hole for the Wires. The wires may or may not be partly twisted to form loops' after slipping the ends under the lugs 23o, as desired.

It will be observed that the sign is composed of a relatively few basic parts and these parts are of such a simple nature as may be formed with relatively simple dies. None of the parts is of such a nature as to limit thecapacity of the sign; for instance, there is no base or face plate which must have a different size for each capacity of sign. Consequently, with the relatively few simple parts, signs of any number of characters may be assembled land the sign may be readily changed at any time to add more characters or change some of the characters, as may be necessary, for example, when a dwelling is renumbered, or when the occupants of the dwelling may change. Since the only tool required to put the sign togetherl is an ordinary screw driver, and since the parts; are. themselves very simple,- the sign may .be easily Vput together b-y persons of very limited mechanical ability following simple printed instructions. With the base formed as described above with fthe aligning rib i3d, it is not even necessary for the person. assembling the sign to have a good sense of proportionv in order to accurately align and space the several sections of the base before assembling the character displaying units and the end units and attaching the assemblyV to the base units. Nor is it necessary to rule lines on the supporting surface for the sign. No special treatment of the supporting surface is required,.such as isoften the case with prior similar devices, other than to see that the surface is flat.

Owing to the provision. of. the connector links 23, it is unnecessary that theperson. installing the sign have any knowledge of electricity other than that necessary to attach the current supply wires to theV lugs 23e providedv therefor on connector strips 23. It is Vobvious that the lamps may be connected in either series or parallel as may be desired, by appropriate disposition of the links 23 and this may be done by following simple and nontechnical printed instructions accompanying the packages of parts for `the sign.

It is preferred to manufacture the bulkof the parts of the sign from sheet metal because of the speed and cheapness with which such parts can be made in quantity production and because it is believed that there is a larger eld for distribution of the sig-n to householders who do not wish to pay a very high price for a device which formerly was a rather expensive luxury because it had to be made to order for each dwelling. However, it is contemplated that there may be a demand for a more attractive appearing sign which, nevertheless, has all of the advantages of a sectional sign.

In order to satisfy al demand for a more attractive appearing and perhaps even more durable sign, the character displaying units ||I and the end units I3 may be cast in bronze, brass, copper or'molded from plastic materials such as Bakelite with provisions for using either translucent plates |'2 of similar plastic material or the plates l2 may be made of opaque material and the character displaying units formed of translucent material whereby the sign may also serve as a means of illumination as wellY as a sign.

When the character displaying units and end' units are cast in metal or molded from plastics, naturally the sides and faces of the units will be made much thicker. In this case the units may be formed with a tongue along one of the contiguous edges of two adjacent units and a groove formed in the other edge to form a light-tight and weather-proof joint, or both edges may be grooved and a resilient sealing strip provided to join the grooved edges of the units.

While there has 'been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a single embodiment it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intension, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A sign comprising a series of separate sections each adapted to luminously display a character and including a thin walled and open ended box-like structure, light-tight and weather-proof means to join each section to the others comprising strips formed of resilient material grooved to receive the edges of the box-like structure adjacent the open ends, and detachable links for securing the sections together.

2. An illuminated sign comprising a plurality of separate character sections, each section comprising a character displaying unit open at opposite ends and on one side and a base member for closing the open side, separate means to join the edges of said units along the open ends and hold said units in alignment comprising elongated elements each having two grooves disposed longitudinally of said element to frictionally receive the edges of two adjacent units to provide light-tight and weather-proof seals between sections, and separate means to secure each unit toits associated base.

3. A sign of the class described comprising a plurality of separate and independent thin walled character displaying sections, each section displaying a character; means to join all of said sections together in alignment to form a continuous housingy including connector strips attached to the sections and loose links having openings for receiving the ends of said strips, said strips being bent to form hooks for said links; and separate sealing strips receiving and holding in alignment the edges of said sections.

4. A sign of the character described comprising a plurality of character displaying sections each including a box-like element having open ends, said elements being arranged with the edges bordering their open ends contiguous; means to join said elements together including removable sealing strips between the contiguous edges, said sections when joined by said strips forming a unitary continuous elongated boxlke housing; and a series of aligned base members, each member being individual to one of said sections and adapted for mounting said housing on a flat surface.

5. A sign composed of a series of separate character displaying sections, each section including a character displaying element and a mounting element, said mounting elements being adapted to be individually secured in alignment to a flat surface as a preliminary tc the assembling of the sign; means to join the character displaying elements together to form a unitary housing before attaching said character displaying elements to the base; and means to secure said unitary housing to the several aligned mounting elements.

6. A sign comprising a series of separate sections, each section including a mounting element individual to said section and adapted for attaching said sections to a flat surface and a character displaying element, the elements of` said section together forming an open ended box; means to join the abutting edges of said character displaying elements in alignment to form a continuous housing, and a series of removable links for securing said character displaying elements together to form a unitary housing for separate attachment to said mounting elements.

7. A sign comprising a series of separate sections, each section including a character displaying element, a separate base, and a separate light source mounted on the base, said bases being shaped to overlap and having portions cooperating with the edges of the overlapped portions of the base for the next adjacent sections to align said sections, said character displaying elements when mounted on said aligned bases forming a continuous housing for said light sources; closure units for the open ends of said housing, freely manually releasable elements for electrically connecting the light sources of adjacent sections, and freely manually releasable securing means for joining the character displaying elements and the closure units together.

8. A sign comprising a series of separate sections including open ended character displaying units formed of thin sheet metal adapted to be placed edge to edge to form a continuous enclosure, and separate resilient sealing strips for joining the open ends of said units together, said strips having grooves along their length to receive the edges of said units.

9. A sign comprising a series of separate sections including character displaying open-ended boX-likeelernents adapted to be placed edge to edge in alignment with their open ends abutting to form a continuous enclosure, and resilient sealing strips for joining the abutting edges of said elements together, the edges of said elements and said sealing strips being adapted to join the sections together in tongue and groove fashion.

10. A sign comprising a series of separate sections, each section adapted to luminously display a character and including an open-ended boxlike element and light-tight weather-proof means to join one section to the others comprising sealer elements formed of resilient material, one of said elements being grooved to receive the other whereby to join the box-like elements in tongue and groove fashion.

11. A sign composed of a series of separate character displaying sections, said'sections consisting of thin-walled box-like structures open at opposite ends and displaying characters, thinwalled box-like end sections open at onlyone end; means to join the open ends of said sections together to form a continuous light-tight and weather-proof enclosure, said means comprising separate sealer strips having grooves snugly receiving the edges Yof adjacent sections in alignment; and quickly releasable means secured to the interiors of said sections for preventing separation of the edges of the sections from the grooves in said strips.

12. A sign comprising a series of character sections, each section including a base unit and a character-displaying unit open at opposite ends and mounted on said base unit, a separate source of light for each section mounted on said base and including terminal lugs, separate means for frictionally receiving the edges of the character displaying units along the open ends to align said units and provide a light-tight and Weatherproof seal, readily releasable means to secure adjacent character displaying units together to prevent separation of the edges of said units from the first-named means, and connector links for said light sources, said links being formed at their ends to frictionally grip said terminal lugs to electrically interconnect said sources of light.

JOHN L. PETZ. JOSEPH L. PETZ. 

